Tile wall or floor



Aug.

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Ihllll mmm Patented Ang.r 2, y1927.

OFFICE.

CHARLES A. LowRY, oE SHAKER HEIGHTsfAND EREDERICK H. ABEL, E EAST .f v. y f oLEvELAEn,loHIo., i Y

' TILE WALL oRELooR. ,A l

Aiipncanonfiea fiu'iylpii', 1,925. serial cNo. 44,281.

" Thisfiinvention relatesk to'ftilek walls or ticulars from the original specifications so O'OrSJ t y `,'Ihefobjectoi` rthe invention is'rto provide improved system yor method of laying or installing tiles in a wall, floor or otherzplace by the construction'at thel factory or place of manufacturev yof what may lbe termed a' mono'litliictile yslab consisting of a pluralityv ofjtiles imbedded or set in properly arrange pattern form in a cement ror other backing, such slabbeing of relatively large area as ik compared witha single tileand being suit# able vfor application to the wall' orjiloor,

thereby'not only reducing the laboro'f i`n-'V stallatio'ni but alsoavoiding possibility"of` error "andinsuring a proper designaccor'dingto 'the architects specifications.

Further objects of the invention are in partobviousandl in part will appear more in detail'hereinafter;

f In thedrawings, Figui represents a' plan view `of ya conventional tile design suitable for purposes of description of theinvention; Fig. 2 is' aplanview of one rforni ofinonolithic'tile slab for a floor of the design shown inFig. lgFig. 3 is a sectionalfview [on the 'line 3-f3,*Fig. 2,A illustrating the formation rof rtlie slab; and Figs. land `5 varey views" similar to Fig. 2 and illustrating modilications.

@In the production of a tilev floor orfwall7 say thev floor .of an entry ory hallway Lor the waiiiscoting or otherpart of, ak walhit is .the custoinjfor the architect to prepare yspecilications ,of the desired design, which` specifications are submittedto the tile 'manie facturerwlio selects orforinsftiles Aofthe i proper color, size andfshape'forthe Vdesign Aand -ships .thel tilesasindividual pieces to the jo'li,wl'ie1e*they worlniian iinbeld's them kseparately'in a Acement backing Land arranges them according ,to the pattern. The Vapf 1 plication otindividualtiles in this manner requires the workman to :iirange the tiles according 'to the desired* color scheine, but

n most workmen are unableto follow even the most simple kdirections and tlieicolor arrangeJ inentinoreoften than notl is not accordingfA to specifications; F ui'therinoi'e.- it fis exceedv dilicult to lay tiles yindividually,and 'produce a finished floor surface 1n a single plane orlwithout uneveniiess, a `task which f is rendered; much more diliicult bythe considerable variance in the thickness o slate tiles. "Again, in the construction of most buildings, "the builder departs in some parthat whentheftile worker comes to 4lay a floor he -linde' that the surface area availa-4 ble to him varies a few inches one Way or the 'other from the originalkfestimated area. a consequence he fndsit necessary to chip andr newly shape somer of the tilesto preservek uniform joints between them and because the 'practice vin layingk individual tiles isto lay' the border first, such newly shapedtiles occur at the center ofthe pattern and distort'the saine. l

i According to our invention, we propose 'to 'perform the assembly of the tilesinpattern torniand arrangement at'the factory by N.di-V

viding'a given` pattern either regular or ir- 'i not to the small tiles used in inoi'e or lessv mosaic toi-m inbath rooms and the like but..

tol relatively larger tiles, say twoto iourlorV six inches across) are never laid withfa long continuous straight joint between rows of tiles. As a consequence, any given' iield or portion ofthe pattern may be of lany ii'- regular shape,`having along its edges certain tileswhich overlap or extend into the nextadjoining field. In the construction or' a 4monolithicr slab, therefore, it is sometimes doeii-able *tol provide for suchy overlapping ti es. i l

j As shown' in Figs. 2 and 3, We construct the monolithic vSlab byr laying the tiles l face down in proper pattern arrangeinenty according to' size,y shape and color, as vde-y signed by the architect, upon al suitable smooth supporting surface. suchas a metal or other plate 2.4r Around the tiles is placed a suitable frame 3, such as a series of ywooden bars nailed or otherwise secured to each other. Thesek wooden bai's will have a thick-V ness approximately equal to thedesired total thickness of the final slab,k say anywhere from one to `two or more inches in thickness.l

Having placed the tiles within the frame the space within saidV frame and above and between the tiles isilled with plastic cement ,wliichis allowed to setoi harden until fil? the tiles are united in monolithic form.

- The Smie operation accurately' fits or accomsame plane.

moda-tes'the frame and slab to veach other. Having been laid face down upon a smooth surface` their exposed facesy are vall in' the Moreover, it is immaterial whether the tiles are of the same thickness,

or how much they vary in thickness, asA the plastic cement is simply placed upon the back of the tiles and the frame Bis filled toits topl or to the proper or desired height.

Care is takenito see that, the tiles are sepa.-y

lapping tiles, marked 5, two along'each side andone atY each end. Where these overlapping tiles occur in the patternr we insertkr blank/.llera'such as the wooden blocks 6,

Fig. 3, whichhwood blocks are of the same thickness as the slab as a whole. Y

Having formedV theslab with wooden fillers fitherein inthe frame 3, said vslab with, its frame may be handled as a unit. A sui-l cient number ofsuch framed slabs for the entire area. is shipped directly to the place,

ofinsta'l-lation, accompanied where necessary by'a suflicientnumber of loose-tiles forthe overlappingpositions After removing the 'woodenframea which may either be taken apart or destroyed, the workman lays'a suitable number of the slabs in position on the, floor,rseparating slab from slab bythe nec-vY essary half-inch oint andknocking'out the wooden fillersr 6 and replacing' the same by the loose overlapping tiles supplied to him. Itis thereforefnecessary to insure Yonly that the smooth plane surfaces V'of adjacent slabs are inthe saine plane with each other. The` slabs are rlaid'r or imbedded in a relatively;

thin sub-base-fof cement, orthe like. Also,

rin' layingrtheseslabs, a central or patterned portionof Vtheiioor or wall is first applied and the border -is laidinposition around the` central or patterned portion. Irregularities inthe construction ofthe building can there-f forebe compensated for in theV border. by chipping for" properly shaping the border y.tilesy andy adjusting the joints between them.

lf desired, anyslab of irregular shape can be handledin the'manner show-n in Fig. 4l,

shaping or accommodating the frame to the slab. y In the form shown, the slab is pi'oy videdwith overlappingv tiles 5a along two sides ofV a generally rectangular pattern, which tiles have an extra width equal tothe width ofthe joints between tiles. say oneh'alf inch. Thesey extra wide tiles consequently extendbeyonvd the border of thev Slab and the side' frame members 3 are suitably formed orvarranged, such as bybeing recessed, to accommodate them to the peculiar shape. Also, if desired, complete 'or fullsized overlapping tiles- 5f? may be provided along two edges, as in Fig. 5, and the frame 3 may be made larger to take up the extra size, any open spaces being filled with woodenv fillers 7, which are removed with the frame when the slab is laid in place in the floor, In this arrangement, no loose tiles need bel shipped, but each field or slab carries half of the overlapping tiles adapted to mateior4 fit with corresponding recesses in the next adjoining field. With the tiles shown in Fig. 4, the extra half-inch on some of the overlapping tiles enables them to closely abut correspondingftiles in the next field with a closed jointin which there isfn'olV cement, as will be obvious. Other arrangeh ments are suitable for the purpose.v

Theinvention described 'insures accuracyy inthe reproduction of the architects pattern by the proper kdistribution of differentcol-l cred tiles by skilled workmen at they factory. lt also ensures an absolutely smooth, uniform plane surfaceon the entire floor or wall area and enables irregularities in theavailable floor area to becompensated for in the.

border instead of in the pattern center.

Other advantageswill be apparent to those skilledin the" art.

Having described our invention, we claim:

l. As an article of manufacture, a framed tile slab, comprising a tile facing, a' remov# ablesurrounding frame,l and a backingof hardeningplastic material cast while plastic within said frame'and behind Ysaid facing,

said frame thereby accurately fitting the' monolithic slab 'within it and protecting thel same during handling and shipping, and

saidfslab upon lremoval of said frame being adapted for assemflywith others toy form a tile surface.

2. As Aan article of manufacture, a framed tile slab, comprising a frameA open ony both faces, a plurality of tiles lying within frame with theirexposed surfaces in av com;l onion, plane, and a backing of hardeningplasticmaterial cast while plastic withinV said frame and around said' tiles to permanently secure the tiles to each other as a monolithicY slab and to also accurately fit said slabfto the frame, said frame serving to protect the Y slab during handling and transportation and being removable from the slab, `whereby the latter may be assembled with others to formi a continuous tile surface. Y

Y 3. A s an, article of manufacture, a framed tile slab, comprising an open frame including a series of connected members of uni# form thickness approximately equal to the desired, slab thickness, a tile facing within"4 said frame with its exposed face in approxi` mately the same plane with one of the frame faces, and a backing of hardening plastic material fillingftlie frame andthe space'be-v hindv the tile facing with its backing surface in approximately the same plane with they opposite surface of the'frame, said frame thereby accurately fitting the monolithic Slab Within it and proteotlng the same during handling and shipment and being removable yfrom the slab, whereby the latter may be assembled with others to form a continuous til-e surface.

4. The method of forming a patterned tile Wall or floor, oo nslsting in sub-dividing the pattern into unlt areas of a Size and'shape convenient for handling, forming a sur-y rounding open frame for each unit area, ar-

Y lithio slabs, removing the frames, and assembling the slabs upon a common backing to form the Wall or floor.

` In testimony whereof we hereby affix our 20 signatures.

CHARLES A. LOWRY. FREDERICK H. ABEL. 

